• Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.

Merfield leaves basketball program

B

BU_EMT128

New member
PEORIA ??”

Bradley University announced that men's basketball assistant coach Steve Merfeld is leaving the program effective immediately.

Merfeld came to Bradley in the summer of 2007 after being a head coach for 10 seasons -- five each at Hampton and then Evansville.

No determination has been made on how the vacancy will be filled on the men's basketball staff. Les said he's re-evaluating the responsibilities of the basketball operations.

http://www.pjstar.com/news_now/x1758555468/Merfeld-leaving-BU-program
 
PJ star with the scoop.....nice job. Well at least we have another excuse to go along with DD getting hurt if we tank this year. :)

Here's hoping we won't have to use the "Merf" excuse.

Good luck to him whatever the reason and wherever he goes from here.
 
I am so sick of the drama that surrounds this program. Whether it's an off-the-court problem, NCAA issues, eligibility issues, or now coaching turnover, if it's not one thing it's another. Now we have one of the weakest coaching staffs in the MVC. Just terrible. We just lost a great asset that I get the impression was never fully utilized.
 
WOW....I didn't see this coming.....I like Merf and wish him Luck in his next venture!

I never like big-changes in the program during the season though!
 
BradleyBrave said:
I am so sick of the drama that surrounds this program. Whether it's an off-the-court problem, NCAA issues, eligibility issues, or now coaching turnover, if it's not one thing it's another. Now we have one of the weakest coaching staffs in the MVC. Just terrible. We just lost a great asset that I get the impression was never fully utilized.
Click to expand...

Woah... Hold up there big guy, its one assistant coach. We're playing well, coming of a big neutral court win and a road win. Unless there is something I'm not privy to, I don't think I'm ready to throw this into the 'drama' category. Merfield seemed like a nice guy, but he obviously wasn't some great coach (see EU), we can easily overcome this. If there was a rift, he likely wasn't doing much this year anyway. I'm not saying its good, but lets wait before we go into meltdown mode.
 
I'm new here on bradleyfans... Good luck to Merf... I've thought it a long time, now is the time when we look for a Big man coach to help develop the big men more...
 
amckillip said:
Woah... Hold up there big guy, its one assistant coach. We're playing well, coming of a big neutral court win and a road win. Unless there is something I'm not privy to, I don't think I'm ready to throw this into the 'drama' category. Merfield seemed like a nice guy, but he obviously wasn't some great coach (see EU), we can easily overcome this. If there was a rift, he likely wasn't doing much this year anyway. I'm not saying its good, but lets wait before we go into meltdown mode.
Click to expand...

Don't underestimate the value of a good coaching staff. If assistants had no value, why was Chuck Buescher such a valuable asset to this program? Merfeld had a rough go at UE, but had great success at Hampton and went to more NCAA's there than the current staff has at BU. He's a good coach, and we are not as good now as we were. More freaking drama surrounding this program.
 
amckillip said:
Woah... Hold up there big guy, its one assistant coach. We're playing well, coming of a big neutral court win and a road win. Unless there is something I'm not privy to, I don't think I'm ready to throw this into the 'drama' category. Merfield seemed like a nice guy, but he obviously wasn't some great coach (see EU), we can easily overcome this. If there was a rift, he likely wasn't doing much this year anyway. I'm not saying its good, but lets wait before we go into meltdown mode.
Click to expand...

Well said amckillip. There may be absolutely nothing negative to read into this. Coaches often live the life of a traveling gypsy..... always looking for the next best opportunity. We did fine before Merf/ We'll do fine post Merf. :)
 
BradleyBrave said:
I am so sick of the drama that surrounds this program. Whether it's an off-the-court problem, NCAA issues, eligibility issues, or now coaching turnover, if it's not one thing it's another. Now we have one of the weakest coaching staffs in the MVC. Just terrible. We just lost a great asset that I get the impression was never fully utilized.
Click to expand...

It was just my gut feeling from things I noticed during timeouts but he (Merf) never looked very involved and/or overly interested. I obviously could be wrong but NOW it really makes me wonder.

JL usually seemed to go to Lil Bish during timeouts about strategery and Merf was talking with refs...checking at the scorers table, etc.
 
Braves4Life said:
Well said amckillip. There may be absolutely nothing negative to read into this. Coaches often live the life of a traveling gypsy..... always looking for the next best opportunity. We did fine before Merf/ We'll do fine post Merf. :)
Click to expand...

If it's not health related, how often does this happen to winning programs in the middle of the season?
 
BradleyBrave said:
Don't underestimate the value of a good coaching staff. If assistants had no value, why was Chuck Buescher such a valuable asset to this program? Merfeld had a rough go at UE, but had great success at Hampton and went to more NCAA's there than the current staff has at BU. He's a good coach, and we are not as good now as we were. More freaking drama surrounding this program.
Click to expand...

Definitely not trying to underestimate a coaching staff. CB was a vital part of the program, and is still around because of that. An assistant that doesn't agree with the HC is not altogether useful, that may be the case here. Once again, not saying this is good - I'm just not keen on making a judgment based on a few lines from the, IMO, less than reputable PJS (see JP redshirting story, or the TB coverage).
 
amckillip said:
Woah... Hold up there big guy, its one assistant coach. We're playing well, coming of a big neutral court win and a road win. Unless there is something I'm not privy to, I don't think I'm ready to throw this into the 'drama' category. Merfield seemed like a nice guy, but he obviously wasn't some great coach (see EU), we can easily overcome this. If there was a rift, he likely wasn't doing much this year anyway. I'm not saying its good, but lets wait before we go into meltdown mode.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't use UE as a barometer as to the Quality of a coach.......
 
dogsrus said:
PJ star with the scoop.....
Click to expand...

Good thing Dave Reynolds wasn't one of those laid off.:biggrin:

Although it was not Dave that wrote the story, and the news was broken by Kevin Capie.

From what I have heard, this was not a sudden thing. There have been things happening for a while.
 
amckillip said:
Definitely not trying to underestimate a coaching staff. CB was a vital part of the program, and is still around because of that. An assistant that doesn't agree with the HC is not altogether useful, that may be the case here. Once again, not saying this is good - I'm just not keen on making a judgment based on a few lines from the, IMO, less than reputable PJS (see JP redshirting story, or the TB coverage).
Click to expand...

Unless it's health-related or because of some personal turmoil, I don't see this sounding good for the program.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top